Synchronizing an external location

ABSTRACT

The present technology pertains to synchronizing contents of a directory external to a synchronized directory by a content management system. The content management system is configured to synchronize only objects in the synchronized directory. Accordingly, the present technology creates an anchor object that represents the directory external to the synchronized directory within the synchronized directory. The anchor object includes special attributes that indicate to the synchronization client that the anchor object represents an external directory, and allows the contents of that directory to be synchronized directly to a server on the content management system without first storing the contents of the external directory on the hard drive of the client device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under U.S.C. § 119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/093,699, filed on Oct. 19, 2020,entitled, SYNCHRONIZING AN EXTERNAL LOCATION, which is hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Content management systems allow users to store and manage all necessarycontent items in one place. Content management systems generally storecontent items on servers and allow users access to the content itemsover a network. Some content management systems allow users tosynchronize content items stored on the local client device to thecontent management system. However, content management systems do notoffer synchronization of content items stored on an external driveattached to a client device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example system configuration, which depicts a contentmanagement system interacting with a client device in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a client synchronization service inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3A is a flowchart of a method for synchronizing an externallocation in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3B is a flowchart of a method for accessing an external location ofa client device through a selection of an anchor object in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for generating an anchor object inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for synchronizing an anchor object inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6A shows an example graphical user interface in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6B shows an example graphical user interface in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6C shows an example graphical user interface in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6D shows an example graphical user interface in accordance withsome embodiments; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computer system in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present technology is capable of synchronizing objects that arelocated outside of a synchronized directory of a content managementsystem. Content management systems that provide for synchronizationbetween cloud storage and a client device synchronize contents into aparticular directory on the client device. Objects located outside of asynchronized directory are typically not accessible to a synchronizationservice of a content management system. However, some of a user's mostimportant objects might be located outside of the synchronized directoryand therefore there is a need to be able to synchronize such contentitems.

Objects stored in an external directory on an external hard drivepresent an even bigger challenge, and yet objects on an external harddrive might be some of a user's most important to backup through asynchronized content management system. For example, users commonlyutilize external hard drives to archive important objects that are notneeded on a daily basis, but are none the less important. External harddrives provide complications in that such hard drives might not alwaysbe accessible to a computer running a synchronization clientapplication, they might be formatted differently than the hard drive ofthe client device, and they might be read-only.

A further problem can arise when an external hard drive stores a greateramount of bytes than the available storage space on a client computer'shard drive. In such instances, objects cannot be first stored on thehard drive of the client prior to being uploaded to a synchronizedcontent management system.

The present technology overcomes many of these problems and allows foran external directory, even on external hard drives, to be synchronizedto a content management system without first copying the objects to besynchronized to a location on a client device's hard drive.

In some embodiments, the disclosed technology is deployed in the contextof a content management system having object synchronizationcapabilities and collaboration features, among others. An example systemconfiguration 100 is shown in FIG. 1, which depicts content managementsystem 110 interacting with a client device 150.

Accounts

Content management system 110 can store objects in association withaccounts, as well as perform a variety of object management tasks, suchas retrieve, modify, browse, and/or share the object(s). Furthermore,content management system 110 can enable an account to access object(s)from multiple client devices.

Content management system 110 supports a plurality of accounts. Asubject (user, group, team, company, etc.) can create an account withcontent management system 110, and account details can be stored insubject database 140. Subject database 140 can identify a registeredsubject by a subject ID, and store profile information for registeredsubjects in association with the subject ID. In some cases, profileinformation for registered subjects includes a subject name and/or emailaddress. Subject database 140 can include account managementinformation, such as account type (e.g., various tiers of free or paidaccounts), storage space allocated, storage space used, client devices150 having a registered content management client application 152resident thereon, security settings, personal configuration settings,etc. In some embodiments, some information associated with an accountmay not be directly stored, and rather this information can be derived.For example, storage space used might be explicitly stored, or it can becalculated when needed.

In some embodiments, subject database 140 need not store completeinformation associated with an account for a subject. Some portion ofinformation associated with an account for a subject can also be storedin another database of content management system 110 such as metadatadatabase 146, or in a database external to content management system110.

Subject database 140 can store groups of accounts associated with asubject. Groups can have permissions based on group permissionsstatements and/or access control lists, and members of the groups caninherit the permissions. For example, a marketing group can have accessto one set of objects while an engineering group can have access toanother set of objects. An administrator group can modify groups, modifysubject accounts, etc. Groups are also subjects identified by subjectID.

In some embodiments, subject database 140 can be broken into a pluralityof tables, indexes and other data structures.

Object Storage

A feature of content management system 110 is the storage of objects,which can be stored in object storage 142. An object generally is anyentity that can be recorded in a file system. Objects can be any objectincluding digital data such as documents, collaboration objects, textfiles, audio files, image files, video files, webpages, executablefiles, binary files, directories, folders, zip files, playlists, albums,etc.

In some embodiments, objects can be grouped into a collection, which canrefer to a folder including a plurality of objects, or a plurality ofobjects that are related or grouped by a common attribute.

In some embodiments, object storage 142 is combined with other types ofstorage or databases to handle specific functions. Object storage 142can store objects, while metadata regarding the objects can be stored inmetadata database 146. Likewise, data regarding where an object isstored in object storage 142 can be stored in content directory 144.Additionally, data regarding changes, access, etc. can be stored inobject database 148. Object database 148 can also include a subjectaccount identifier that identifies the subject IDs that have access tothe object.

In some embodiments, object database 148 can be broken into a pluralityof tables, indexes and other data structures.

Each of the various storages/databases such as object storage 142,content directory 144, object database 148, and metadata database 146can be comprised of more than one such storage or database and can bedistributed over many devices and locations. Other configurations arealso possible. For example, data from object storage 142, contentdirectory 144, object database 148, and/or metadata database 146 may becombined into one or more object storages or databases or furthersegmented into additional object storages or databases. Thus, contentmanagement system 110 may include more or less storages and/or databasesthan shown in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, object storage 142 is associated with at least oneobject storage service 116, which includes software or other processorexecutable instructions for managing the storage of objects including,but not limited to, receiving objects for storage, preparing objects forstorage, selecting a storage location for the object, retrieving objectsfrom storage, etc. In some embodiments, object storage service 116 candivide an object into smaller chunks for storage at object storage 142.The location of each chunk making up an object can be recorded incontent directory 144. Content directory 144 can include a content entryfor each object stored in object storage 142. The content entry can beassociated with an object ID, which identifies an object.

In some embodiments, each object and each chunk of an object can also beidentified from a deterministic hash function. This method ofidentifying an object and chunks of objects can ensure that objectduplicates are recognized as such since the deterministic hash functionwill output the same hash for every copy of the same object, but willoutput a different hash for a different object. Using this methodology,object storage service 116 can output a unique hash for each differentversion of an object.

Object storage service 116 can also designate or record a content pathfor an object in object database 148. The content path can include thename of the object and/or folder hierarchy associated with the object.For example, the content path can include a folder or path of folders inwhich the object is stored in a local file system on a client device. Insome embodiments, object database might only store a direct ancestor ordirect child of any object, which allows a full path for an object to bederived.

While objects are stored in object storage 142 in blocks and may not bestored under a tree like directory structure, such directory structureis a comfortable navigation structure for subjects. Object storageservice 116 can define or record a content path for an object whereinthe “root” node of a directory structure can be any directory withspecific access privileges assigned to it, as opposed to a directorythat inherits access privileges from another directory.

In some embodiments, a root directory can be mounted underneath anotherroot directory to give the appearance of a single directory structure.This can occur when an account has access to a plurality of rootdirectories. As addressed above, the directory structure is merely acomfortable navigation structure for subjects, but does not correlate tostorage locations of objects in object storage 142.

While the directory structure in which an account views objects does notcorrelate to storage locations at content management system 110, thedirectory structure can correlate to storage locations on client device150 depending on the file system used by client device 150.

As addressed above, a content entry in content directory 144 can alsoinclude the location of each chunk making up an object. Morespecifically, the content entry can include content pointers thatidentify the location in object storage 142 of the chunks that make upthe object.

Object storage service 116 can decrease the amount of storage spacerequired by identifying duplicate objects or duplicate blocks that makeup an object or versions of an object. Instead of storing multiplecopies, object storage 142 can store a single copy of the object orblock of the object and content directory 144 can include a pointer orother mechanism to link the duplicates to the single copy.

Object storage service 116 can also store metadata describing objects,object types, folders, file paths, and/or the relationship of objects tovarious accounts, collections, or groups in metadata database 146, inassociation with the object ID of the object.

Object storage service 116 can also store a log of data regardingchanges, access, etc. in object database 148. Object database 148 caninclude the object ID of the object and can optionally include adescription of the change or access action along with a time stamp orversion number and any other relevant data. Object database 148 can alsoinclude pointers to blocks affected by the change or object access.Object storage service can provide the ability to undo operations, byusing an object version control that tracks changes to objects,different versions of objects (including diverging version trees), and achange history that can be acquired from object database 148.

Object Synchronization

Another feature of content management system 110 is the synchronizationof objects with at least one client device 150. Client device(s) cantake different forms and have different capabilities. For example,client device 150-1 is a computing device having a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon. Client device150-2 is a computing device wherein objects are only accessible to aspecific application or by permission given by the specific application,and the objects are typically stored either in an application specificspace or in the cloud. Client device 150-3 is any client deviceaccessing content management system 110 via a web browser and accessingobjects via a web interface. While example client devices 150-1, 150-2,and 150-3 are depicted in form factors such as a laptop, mobile device,or web browser, it should be understood that the descriptions thereofare not limited to devices of these example form factors. For example, amobile device such as client 150-2 might have a local file systemaccessible by multiple applications resident thereon, or client 150-2might access content management system 110 via a web browser. As such,the form factor should not be considered limiting when consideringclient 150's capabilities. One or more functions described herein withrespect to client device 150 may or may not be available on every clientdevice depending on the specific capabilities of the device—the fileaccess model being one such capability.

In some embodiments, client device 150 can be communicatively connectedto an external hard drive 151.

In many embodiments, client devices are associated with an account ofcontent management system 110, but in some embodiments, client devicescan access content using shared links and do not require an account.

As noted above, some client devices can access content management system110 using a web browser. However, client devices can also access contentmanagement system 110 using client application 152 stored and running onclient device 150. Client application 152 can include a clientsynchronization service 156.

Client synchronization service 156 can be in communication with serversynchronization service 112 to synchronize changes to objects betweenclient device 150 and content management system 110.

Client device 150 can synchronize content with content management system110 via client synchronization service 156. The synchronization can beplatform agnostic. That is, content can be synchronized across multipleclient devices of varying types, capabilities, operating systems, etc.Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize any changes (new,deleted, modified, copied, or moved objects) to objects in a designateddirectory of a file system of client device 150 that is monitored bysynchronization service 156.

Objects can be synchronized from client device 150 to content managementsystem 110, and vice versa. In embodiments wherein synchronization isfrom client device 150 to content management system 110, a subject canmanipulate objects directly from the file system of client device 150,while client synchronization service 156 can monitor a designateddirectory on client device 150 for changes to files within the monitoredfolders.

When client synchronization service 156 detects a write, move, copy, ordelete of content in a directory that it monitors, clientsynchronization service 156 can synchronize the changes to objectstorage service 116. In some embodiments, client synchronization service156 can perform some functions of object storage service 116 includingfunctions addressed above such as dividing the object into blocks,hashing the object to generate a unique identifier, etc. Clientsynchronization service 156 can index content within client storageindex 164 and save the result in storage index 164. Indexing can includestoring paths plus the object identifier, and a unique client identifierfor each object. In some embodiments, client synchronization service 156learns the object identifier from server synchronization service 112,and learns the unique client identifier from the operating system ofclient device 150.

Client synchronization service 156 can use storage index 164 tofacilitate the synchronization of at least a portion of the objectswithin client storage with objects associated with a subject account oncontent management system 110. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can compare storage index 164 with content management system110 and detect differences between content on client storage and contentassociated with a subject account on content management system 110.Client synchronization service 156 can then attempt to reconciledifferences by uploading, downloading, modifying, and deleting contenton client storage as appropriate. Object storage service 116 can storethe changed or new block for the object and update object database 148,metadata database 146, content directory 144, object storage 142,subject database 140, etc. as appropriate.

When synchronizing from content management system 110 to client device150, data regarding a mount, modification, addition, deletion, move ofan object recorded in object database 148 can trigger a notification tobe sent to client device 150 using notification service 117. When clientdevice 150 is informed of the change, client device 150 can make arequest for changes listed in object database 148 since the lastsynchronization point known to the client device. When client device 150determines that it is out of synchronization with content managementsystem 110, client synchronization service 156 requests object blocksincluding the changes, and updates its local copy of the changedobjects.

In some embodiments, storage index 164 stores tree data structureswherein one tree reflects the latest representation of a directoryaccording to server synchronization service 112, while another treereflects the latest representation of the directory according to clientsynchronization service 156. Client synchronization service can work toensure that the tree structures match by requesting data from serversynchronization service 112 or committing changes on client device 150to content management system 110.

Sometimes client device 150 might not have a network connectionavailable. In this scenario, client synchronization service 156 canmonitor the linked collection for object changes and queue those changesfor later synchronization to content management system 110 when anetwork connection is available. Similarly, a subject can manuallystart, stop, pause, or resume synchronization with content managementsystem 110.

Client synchronization service 156 can synchronize all contentassociated with a particular subject account on content managementsystem 110. Alternatively, client synchronization service 156 canselectively synchronize some of the objects associated with theparticular subject account on content management system 110. Selectivelysynchronizing only some of the objects can preserve space on clientdevice 150 and save bandwidth.

In some embodiments, client synchronization service 156 selectivelystores a portion of the objects associated with the particular subjectaccount and stores placeholder objects in client storage for theremaining portion of the objects. For example, client synchronizationservice 156 can store a placeholder object that has the same filename,path, extension, metadata, of its respective complete object on contentmanagement system 110, but lacking the data of the complete object. Theplaceholder object can be a few bytes or less in size while therespective complete object might be significantly larger. After clientdevice 150 attempts to access the object, client synchronization service156 can retrieve the data of the object from content management system110 and provide the complete object to client device 150. This approachcan provide significant space and bandwidth savings while stillproviding full access to a subject's objects on content managementsystem 110.

Collaboration Features

Another feature of content management system 110 is to facilitatecollaboration between subjects. Collaboration features include objectsharing, commenting on objects, co-working on objects, instantmessaging, providing presence, and seen state information regardingobjects, etc.

Sharing

Content management system 110 can manage sharing objects via sharingservice 128. Sharing an object by providing a link to the object caninclude making the object accessible from any computing device innetwork communication with content management system 110. However, insome embodiments a link can be associated with access restrictionsenforced by content management system 110 and Identity and AccessManagement (IAM) service 132. Sharing content can also include linkingcontent using sharing service 128 to share content within contentmanagement system 110 with at least one additional subject account (inaddition to the original subject account associated with the object) sothat each subject account has access to the object. The additionalsubject account can gain access to the content by accepting the content,which will then be accessible through either web interface service 124or directly from within the directory structure associated with theiraccount on client device 150. The sharing can be performed in aplatform-agnostic manner. That is, the content can be shared acrossmultiple client devices 150 of varying types, capabilities, operatingsystems, etc. The content can also be shared across varying types ofsubject accounts.

To share an object within content management system 110 sharing service128 can add a subject ID of a team or of one or more subject accountswith a content item in objects database 148 associated with the object,thus granting the added subject account(s) access to the object. Sharingservice 128 can also remove subject IDs from being permitted to access acontent item in objects database 148 to restrict a subject account'saccess to the object. Sharing service 128 can record object identifiers,subject identifiers given access to an object, and access levels inobjects database 148. For example, in some embodiments, subjectidentifiers associated with a single content item can specify differentpermissions for respective subject identifiers with respect to theassociated object.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can include an accesscontrol list 145 which includes a description of complete access rightspertaining to a respective object. An access control list for anyrespective object in content management system can be derived fromobjects database 148. In some embodiments, it is not desirable tomaintain a persistent access control list 145 for a respective object,as an access control list 145 for a respective object can be derivedwhen needed.

To share objects outside of content management system 110, sharingservice 128 can generate a custom network address, such as a uniformresource locator (URL), which allows any web browser to access theobject or collection in content management system 110 without anyauthentication. To accomplish this, sharing service 128 can includecontent identification data in the generated URL, which can later beused to properly identify and return the requested object. For example,sharing service 128 can include the account identifier and the contentpath or an object identifying code in the generated URL. Upon selectionof the URL, the content identification data included in the URL can betransmitted to content management system 110, which can use the receivedcontent identification data to identify the appropriate object andreturn the object.

In addition to generating the URL, sharing service 128 can also beconfigured to record in objects database 148 that a URL to the objecthas been created. In some embodiments, an entry into objects database148 associated with an object can include a URL flag indicating whethera URL to the object has been created. For example, the URL flag can be aBoolean value initially set to 0 or false to indicate that a URL to theobject has not been created. Sharing service 128 can change the value ofthe flag to 1 or true after generating a URL to the object.

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can associate a set ofpermissions to a URL for an object. For example, if a subject attemptsto access the object via the URL, sharing service 128 can provide alimited set of permissions for the object. Examples of limitedpermissions include restrictions that the subject cannot download theobject, save the object, copy the object, modify the object, etc. Insome embodiments, limited permissions include restrictions that onlypermit an object to be accessed from with a specified domain, i.e., fromwithin a corporate network domain, or by accounts associated with aspecified domain, e.g., accounts associated with a company account(e.g., @acme.com).

In some embodiments, sharing service 128 can also be configured todeactivate a generated URL. For example, each entry into objectsdatabase 148 can also include a URL active flag indicating whether thecontent should be returned in response to a request from the generatedURL. For example, sharing service 128 can only return an objectrequested by a generated link if the URL active flag is set to 1 ortrue. Thus, access to an object for which a URL has been generated canbe easily restricted by changing the value of the URL active flag. Thisallows a subject to restrict access to the shared object without havingto move the object or delete the generated URL. Likewise, sharingservice 128 can reactivate the URL by again changing the value of theURL active flag to 1 or true. A subject can thus easily restore accessto the object without the need to generate a new URL.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can designate a URLfor uploading an object. For example, a first subject with a subjectaccount can request such a URL, provide the URL to a contributingsubject and the contributing subject can upload an object to the firstsubject's subject account using the URL.

Team Service

In some embodiments content management system 110 includes team service130. Team service 130 can provide functionality for creating andmanaging defined teams of subject accounts. Teams can be created for acompany, with sub-teams (e.g., business units, or project teams, etc.),and subject accounts assigned to teams and sub-teams, or teams can becreated for any defined group of subject accounts. Teams service 130 canprovide a common shared space for the team, private subject accountfolders, and access limited shared folders. Teams service can alsoprovide a management interface for an administrator to managecollections and objects within team, and can manage subject accountsthat are associated with the team. Teams, sub-teams, subject accountsare all given a subject identifier in subjects database 140, and themembership to teams by subject accounts is also recorded in subjectsdatabase 140.

IAM (Identity and Access Management) Service

In some embodiments, content management system 110 includes IAM service132. IAM service 132 ensures that a subject account attempting to accessan object has appropriate rights to access the object. IAM service 132can receive a token from client application 152 that follows a requestto access a namespace and can return the capabilities permitted to thesubject account. For subject accounts with multiple levels of access(e.g., a subject account with subject rights and administrator rights)IAM service 132 can also require explicit privilege escalation to avoidunintentional actions by administrators.

Presence and Seen State

In some embodiments, content management system can provide informationabout how subjects with which an object is shared are interacting orhave interacted with the object. In some embodiments, content managementsystem 110 can report that a subject with which an object is shared iscurrently viewing the object. For example, client collaboration service160 can notify notifications service 117 when client device 150 isaccessing the object. Notifications service 117 can then notify allclient devices of other subjects having access to the same object of thepresence of the subject of client device 150 with respect to the object.

In some embodiments, content management system 110 can report a historyof subject interaction with a shared object. Collaboration service 126can query data sources such as metadata database 146 and object database148 to determine that a subject has saved the object, that a subject hasyet to view the object, etc., and disseminate this status informationusing notification service 117 to other subjects so that they can knowwho currently is or has viewed or modified the object.

Collaboration service 126 can facilitate comments associated withcontent, even if an object does not natively support commentingfunctionality. Such comments can be stored in metadata database 146.

Collaboration service 126 can originate and transmit notifications forsubjects. For example, a subject can mention another subject in acomment and collaboration service 126 can send a notification to thatsubject that he has been mentioned in the comment. Various other objectevents can trigger notifications, including deleting an object, sharingan object, etc.

Collaboration service 126 can provide a messaging platform wherebysubjects can send and receive instant messages, voice calls, emails,etc.

Collaboration Objects

In some embodiments, content management service can also includeCollaborative document service 134 which can provide an interactiveobject collaboration platform whereby subjects can simultaneously createcollaboration objects, comment in the collaboration objects, and managetasks within the collaboration objects. Collaboration objects can befiles that subjects can create and edit using a collaboration objecteditor, and can contain collaboration object elements. Collaborationobject elements may include a collaboration object identifier, one ormore author identifiers, collaboration object text, collaboration objectattributes, interaction information, comments, sharing subjects, etc.Collaboration object elements can be stored as database entities, whichallows for searching and retrieving the collaboration objects. Multiplesubjects may access, view, edit, and collaborate on collaborationobjects at the same time or at different times. In some embodiments thiscan be managed by requiring two subjects to access an object through aweb interface and there they can work on the same copy of the object atthe same time.

Collaboration Companion Interface

In some embodiments, client collaboration service 160 can provide anative application companion interface for the purpose of displayinginformation relevant to an object being presented on client device 150.In embodiments wherein an object is accessed by a native applicationstored and executed on client device 150, where the object is in adesignated location of the file system of client device 150 such thatthe object is managed by content application 152, the native applicationmay not provide any native way to display the above-addressedcollaboration data. In such embodiments, client collaboration service160 can detect that a subject has opened an object, and can provide anoverlay with additional information for the object, such ascollaboration data. For example, the additional information can includecomments for the object, status of the object, activity of othersubjects previously or currently viewing the object. Such an overlay canwarn a subject that changes might be lost because another subject iscurrently editing the object.

In some embodiments, one or more of the services or storages/databasesdiscussed above can be accessed using public or private applicationprogramming interfaces.

Certain software applications can access object storage 142 via an APIon behalf of a subject. For example, a software package such as anapplication running on client device 150, can programmatically make APIcalls directly to content management system 110 when a subject providesauthentication credentials, to read, write, create, delete, share, orotherwise manipulate content.

A subject can view or manipulate content stored in a subject account viaa web interface generated and served by web interface service 124. Forexample, the subject can navigate in a web browser to a web addressprovided by content management system 110. Changes or updates to contentin the object storage 142 made through the web interface, such asuploading a new version of an object, can be propagated back to otherclient devices associated with the subject's account. For example,multiple client devices, each with their own client software, can beassociated with a single account, and objects in the account can besynchronized between each of the multiple client devices.

Client device 150 can connect to content management system 110 on behalfof a subject. A subject can directly interact with client device 150,for example when client device 150 is a desktop or laptop computer,phone, television, internet-of-things device, etc. Alternatively oradditionally, client device 150 can act on behalf of the subject withoutthe subject having physical access to client device 150, for examplewhen client device 150 is a server.

Some features of client device 150 are enabled by an applicationinstalled on client device 150. In some embodiments, the application caninclude a content management system specific component. For example, thecontent management system specific component can be a stand-aloneapplication 152, one or more application plug-ins, and/or a browserextension. However, the subject can also interact with contentmanagement system 110 via a third-party application, such as a webbrowser, that resides on client device 150 and is configured tocommunicate with content management system 110. In variousimplementations, the client-side application 152 can present a subjectinterface (UI) for a subject to interact with content management system110. For example, the subject can interact with the content managementsystem 110 via a file system explorer integrated with the file system orvia a webpage displayed using a web browser application.

In some embodiments, client application 152 can be configured to manageand synchronize content for more than one account of content managementsystem 110. In such embodiments, client application 152 can remainlogged into multiple accounts and provide normal services for themultiple accounts. In some embodiments, each account can appear asfolder in a file system, and all objects within that folder can besynchronized with content management system 110. In some embodiments,client application 152 can include a selector to choose one of themultiple accounts to be the primary account or default account.

Third Party Services

In some embodiments content management system 110 can includefunctionality to interface with one or more third-party services such asworkspace services, email services, task services, etc. In suchembodiments, content management system 110 can be provided with logincredentials for a subject account at the third party service to interactwith the third party service to bring functionality or data from thosethird party services into various subject interfaces provided by contentmanagement system 110.

While content management system 110 is presented with specificcomponents, it should be understood by one skilled in the art, that thearchitectural configuration of system 100 is simply one possibleconfiguration and that other configurations with more or fewercomponents are possible. Further, a service can have more or lessfunctionality, even including functionality described as being withanother service. Moreover, features described herein with respect to anembodiment can be combined with features described with respect toanother embodiment.

While system 100 is presented with specific components, it should beunderstood by one skilled in the art, that the architecturalconfiguration of system 100 is simply one possible configuration andthat other configurations with more or fewer components are possible.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a client synchronization service 156, inaccordance with some embodiments. Client synchronization service 156 maybe implemented in the client device 150 of FIG. 1. However, in someembodiments, client synchronization service 156 may be implemented onanother computing device. Client synchronization service 156 isconfigured to synchronize changes to objects between content managementsystem 110 and the client device 150 on which client synchronizationservice 156 runs.

Client synchronization service 156 may include file system interface205, server interface 210, tree storage 220, planner 225, and scheduler230. Additional or alternative components may also be included.

File system interface 205 is configured to process changes to objects onlocal file system 270 of client device 150 and update local tree 250 orto make changes to local file system 270. For example, file systeminterface 205 can detect changes to objects in a monitored directory onlocal file system 270 of client device 150. Changes may also be made anddetected via client application 152 of FIG. 1. File system interface 205may make updates to local tree 250. The updates to local tree 250 may bemade based on the changes (new, deleted, modified, copied, renamed, ormoved objects) to objects on the client device.

Server interface 210 is configured to aid in the processing of remotechanges to objects at content management system 110 and updating ofremote tree 210. For example, server interface 210 can be incommunication with server synchronization service 112 to synchronizechanges to objects between client device 150 and content managementsystem 110. Changes (new, deleted, modified, copied, renamed, or movedobjects) to objects at content management system 110 may be detected andupdates may be made to remote tree 210 to reflect the changes at contentmanagement system 110. Server interface 210 is also configured to aid inthe communicating of local changes to objects at local file system 270to server synchronization service 112 to update object database 148.

Tree storage 220 is configured to store and maintain the tree datastructures used by client synchronization service 156. For example, treestorage 220 may store local tree 250, sync tree 235, and remote tree210. In some embodiments, tree storage 220 may store the tree datastructures in persistent memory (e.g., a hard disk or other secondarystorage device) as well as in main memory (e.g., RAM or other primarystorage device) in order to reduce latency and response time. Forexample, on start-up of the client device or client synchronizationservice 156, the tree data structures may be retrieved from persistentmemory and loaded into main memory. Tree storage 220 may access andupdate the tree data structures on main memory and, before the clientdevice or client synchronization service 156 is shut down, tree storage220 may store the updated tree data structures in persistent memory.

Remote tree 210 represents a server state or the state of objects storedremotely from the client device (e.g., on a server of the contentmanagement system). Local tree 250 represents a file system state or thestate of the corresponding objects stored locally on the client device.Sync tree 235 represents a merge base for the local tree and the remotetree. The merge base may be thought of as a common ancestor of the localtree and the remote tree or a last known synced state between the localtree and the remote tree.

Each tree data structure (e.g., remote tree 210, sync tree 235, or localtree 250) may include one or more nodes. Each node in a tree datastructure may represent an object (e.g., a file, document, folder,etc.). Each node in a tree data structure may contain data such as, forexample, a directory object identifier specifying the object identifierof a parent node of the object, an object name for the object, an objectidentifier for the object, and metadata for the object.

Planner 225 is configured to detect differences between the server stateassociated with content management system 110 and the file system stateassociated with the client device 150 based on the state of the treedata structures. For example, planner 225 may determine if there is adifference between remote tree 210 and sync tree 235. A differencebetween remote tree 210 and sync tree 235 indicates that an actionperformed remotely on one or more objects stored at content managementsystem 110 has caused the server state and the file system state tobecome out of sync. Similarly, planner 225 may also determine if thereis a difference between local tree 250 and the sync tree 235. Adifference between local tree 250 and sync tree 235 indicates that anaction performed locally on one or more objects stored in local filesystem 270 on client device 150 has caused the server state and the filesystem state to become out of sync. If a difference is detected, planner225 generates a set of operations that synchronize the tree datastructures.

In some scenarios, a set of operations generated based on a differencebetween the remote tree and the sync tree and a set of operationsgenerated based on a difference between the local tree and the sync treemay conflict. Planner 225 may also be configured to merge the two setsof operations into a single merged plan of operations.

Scheduler 230 is configured to take the generated plan of operations andmanage the execution of those operations. According to some embodiments,scheduler 230 converts each operation in the plan of operations into aseries of one or more tasks that need to be executed in order to performthe operation. In some scenarios, some tasks may become outdated or nolonger relevant. Scheduler 230 is configured to identify those tasks andcancel them.

When a difference exists between local tree 250 and sync tree 235, achange needs to be synchronized to content management system 110. Tosynchronize a change in local file system 270 to content managementsystem 110, client synchronization service can commit an intent toserver synchronization service 112 pertaining to specificsynchronization operations. To commit the intent, client synchronizationservice 156 on client device 150 records an intent to commit anoperation at client device 150. Client synchronization service 156 canrecord the intent to commit the operation durably on disk or memory atclient device 150 to track the pending commit. Client device 150 canstore dirty commit records and track modifications until an eventtriggers removal of the pending commit(s), such as a failure or success.Client synchronization service 156 also commits the operation to serversynchronization service 112 by sending a message to serversynchronization service 112 requesting to commit the operation.

Server synchronization service 112 can send a return message indicatingwhether the commit to content management system 110 succeeded orindicating an error. Only once client synchronization service 156 learnsthat the commit succeeded will client synchronization service 156 updateremote tree 610 and sync tree 620 to include the synchronized operationand clear the intent to commit the operation from client device 150.

Client application 152 can learn of a change existing at a server byrequesting information regarding events occurring on objects recorded inobject database 148 since a last synchronization time known to theclient device. In some embodiments, client synchronization service 156makes a request for updated information periodically, or in response toreceiving notifications about possible changes. When a change hasoccurred in the account at the content management system, serversynchronization service 112 can send information about the operationthat was performed to client synchronization service 156 which canupdate remote tree 215. Thereafter, client synchronization service 156can detect a difference between remote tree 215 and sync tree 235indicating that local file system 270 needs to be updated. Planner 225can identify operations needed to update local file system 270, andserver interface 210 can request any data, such as blocks making upobjects, etc. from content management system 110.

Client synchronization service 156 can update local file system 270,local tree 250, and sync tree 235 to bring the system into asynchronized state. Additionally, client synchronization service 156 canstore information identifying the synchronization time pertaining to theinformation received from object database 148 to indicate that clientapplication is up to date to at least the last synchronization time. Insome embodiments, the last synchronization time pertains to a row inobject database 148, and can be stored as part of a cryptographicallysigned cursor that is received from content management system 110. Thenext time client synchronization service requests updated information,it will supply the cursor to identify a point in object database 148from which to begin reading.

Anchor Object

In some embodiments, the content management system 110 can includefunctionality to generate an anchor object for an external directorythat is external to a monitored directory on the client device 150. Ananchor object is an object with special attributes. The clientapplication 152 can recognize the anchor object as an object pointing toa directory that is external to a directory that is monitored by clientsynchronization service 156. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates an anchorobject 271 in a directory monitored by client synchronization service156, where the anchor object 271 points to an external directoryexternal hard drive 151. While the anchor object 271 is illustrated aspointing to external hard drive 151 in FIG. 2, it should be appreciatedthat anchor object 271 can also point to other directories on clientdevice 150 that are outside of the directory monitored by thesynchronization service 156.

By utilizing the anchor object, the content of the external directoryrepresented by the anchor object can be synchronized to the contentmanagement system 110. In some embodiments, the anchor object can beassociated with properties that instruct client synchronization serviceto synchronize the objects in the external directory directly withoutbeing first stored on the client device 150.

From the perspective of the content management system 110, the externaldirectory represented by the anchor object can be treated as if theexternal directory were located within the directory that contains theanchor object. The anchor object can be stored as a directory in themonitored directory and can appear with objects located underneath it asillustrated in remote tree 215.

However, from the perspective of the client synchronization service 156,the anchor object has special attributes that change somecharacteristics about how it is represented in local tree 250 and synctree 235 and can change some aspects of the synchronization of objectsstored in the external directory. A representation of the monitoreddirectory can be stored in a local tree structure 250 that represents afile system structure of objects in the monitored directory, includingthe anchor object 271. The anchor object 271 is represented in the localtree structure as a file or special object with a flag as part of thespecial attributes to indicate that it is an anchor object. Likewise,any objects under the anchor object might also appear in the local tree250 or sync tree 235 with flags or special attributes to indicate thatthey are part of an external directory.

In some embodiments, the special attributes of the anchor object areextended attributes or ultimate data streams that describe attributes ofan associated external directory. For example, the special attribute canbe a Xattr that stores the location information of the associatedexternal directory as a Binary Large Object (BLOB). The locationinformation includes, but is not limited to a directory ID, an inodereference, a device ID, an object ID, a unique ID (UUID), a targetlocation, a path, etc. The special attributes can serve as a source oftruth for the identification and location of the external directory andits corresponding contents.

In some embodiments, the client synchronization service 156 canrecognize an anchor object by detecting the presence of its specialattributes. After determining the object is a valid anchor object, theclient synchronization service 156 can read the contents of theassociated external directory indicated by the special attributes. Then,the client synchronization service 156 can communicate with the serversynchronization service 112 to synchronize content items stored on theexternal directory to the content management system 110. Suchsynchronization of the external directory can be periodically or whencertain file events occur. Such a process will be described in moredetail with regard to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

In some embodiments, the special attributes such as the Xattr can enablethe content management system to intercept certain user operations onthe anchor object and perform predetermined actions in response. Thisprocess will be described in more detail with regard to FIGS. 3A and 3Bbelow. For example, when a user double clicks on an anchor with Xattrincluding the UUID of an external drive, if the external drive isaccessible, the content management system can present the content of theexternal drive through a user interface. If the external drive in theXattr is not accessible, the content management system can present thecorresponding synchronized content of the external drive stored on thecontent management system.

In some embodiments, after determining the object is a valid anchorobject, the server synchronization service 112 can also read the specialattributes of the anchor object to create an in-memory map based on thespecial attributes. The in-memory map can be the source of truth inmemory, such the local memory of the client device 150. In suchembodiments, the client synchronization service 156 can use thein-memory map to convert between a UUID of an external directory to acontent management system path in the local tree structure, thustracking the content of the external directory. Such in-memory map isupdated periodically or at certain file events. Such process will bedescribed in more detail with regard to FIG. 4.

From the perspective of a user of the client device 150, the anchorobject can be represented as a folder through a user interface of theclient device 150. When a user performs operations on the anchor objectthrough a user interface on the client device 150, the user experienceis the same as the interaction with any other folders on the userinterface. For example, the user can open the anchor object and see itscorresponding content, delete the anchor object, move the anchor object,or rename the anchor object. Such process will be described in moredetail with regard to FIG. 5.

The introduction of the anchor object provides several improvements overexisting technology for synchronization of content items storedexternally of a client device to a content management system. First, theexternal content can be synchronized directly from an external locationto the content management system without having to be stored locally ona client device first. Second, the anchor object provides a consistentuser experience of interacting with an external directory, whether theexternal directory is accessible to the client device or not.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example method 300 for synchronizing an externallocation of a client device. Although the example method 300 depicts aparticular sequence of operations, the sequence may be altered withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, some ofthe operations depicted may be performed in parallel or in a differentsequence that does not materially affect the function of the method 300.In other examples, different components of an example device or systemthat implements the method 300 may perform functions at substantiallythe same time or in a specific sequence.

At operation 302, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem executing on a client device may detect an external directorythat is external to a synchronized directory. For example, the clientapplication 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 may detect an external directorythat is external to a synchronized directory, such as a directorymonitored by client synchronization service 156 on the client device150. The external directory can be an external hard drive connected tothe client device, a network drive accessible by the client device, afolder on the client device, a file object on the client device, acamera connected to the client device, etc.

At operation 304, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem may represent the external directory in a graphical userinterface. In a first example, the client application 152 may surface aprompt presenting a message informing a user that the external directoryis available for synchronization. In a second example, therepresentation of the external directory in the graphical user interfacemay be an icon representing the external directory in a list of foldersor external drives accessible on the client device 150. This operationwill be described in more detail with regard to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

At operation 306, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem may receive a selection of the representation of the externaldirectory from a user of the client device 150. This operation will bedescribed in more detail with regard to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

At operation 308, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem may present an option to enroll the external directory forsynchronization in response to receiving the selection of therepresentation of the external directory. This operation will bedescribed in more detail with regard to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

At operation 309, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem may present an option to exclude objects on the externaldirectory from synchronization, in response to receiving the selectionof the representation of the external directory at operation 306, oralong with presenting an option to enroll the external directory forsynchronization at operation 308.

At operation 310, a client application 152 of a content managementsystem may create a link to the external directory. In a first example,the link to the external directory includes special attributes thatidentify the link as pointing to the external directory to besynchronized. The attributes of the directory include, but are notlimited to a directory ID, an inode reference, a device ID, an objectID, a UUID, a target location, a path, etc. In a second example, thelink is a custom object type called an anchor object. As described abovewith regard to FIG. 1, the anchor object is an object with specialattributes. The anchor object is recognized by the client application asan object that identifies the anchor object as pointing to an externaldirectory to be synchronized and that describes attributes of thedirectory. In a third example, the link is a symbolic link or ashortcut.

In some embodiments, once a link is created at operation 310, a clientapplication of a content management system may recursively subscribe tofile events of the external directory represented by the anchor object.For example, the client application 152 can detect file events of theexternal directory represented by the anchor object after expiration ofa period of time, such as every hour, every day, or every month, etc.The client application 152 can use the detected file events of theexternal directory in further achieving the synchronization of theexternal location of the client device.

At operation 312, the client application 152 may store a link 271created in operation 310 in the synchronized directory on the clientdevice 150.

At operation 314, the client application 152 may represent the storedlink 271 in the synchronized directory as a selectable icon. Forexample, the link can be represented on a user interface as a folder, anexternal drive, a camera, a file object, or a custom icon.

At operation 316, the client application 152 may access the externaldirectory through the link representing the external directory.

At operation 318, the client application 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 maydetermine whether the external directory is a valid location afteraccessing the external directory. In a first example, determining thatthe external directory is a valid location includes determining that theexternal directory exists and is accessible. In a second example,determining that the external directory is a valid location includesdetermining that the external directory is in a supported format. Thesupported format can be a disk format that can be read by the clientapplication. The supported format can also be a disk format thatsupports extended attributes. Example formats of an external driveinclude FAT32 and exFAT. In some embodiments, a format might not befully supported if it does not support extended attributes or othermechanisms to store necessary metadata. In some embodiments, the presenttechnology might still be able to function in a limited fashion.Unsupported formats might result in less functionality, such asunidirectional synchronization or batch backup of the externaldirectory.

If at operation 318, the client application 152 determines that theexternal directory is a valid location, the process may continue withoperation 320. If at operation 318, the client application 152determines that the external directory is not a valid location, theprocess may end.

At operation 320, a client application of a content management systemmay detect at least one object on the external directory. For example,the client application 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 may detect at least oneobject on the external directory. The client application 152 illustratedin FIG. 1 may read metadata pertaining to the contents of the externaldirectory and may process each object in the external directory toconvert the content of each object into hashed blocks. In one example,the hashed blocks are temporarily stored in a memory of the clientdevice 150.

In some embodiments, the client application can read metadata pertainingto the contents of the external drive, and process each object in theexternal directory to convert the content of each object into hashedblocks after the expiration of a period of time.

At operation 322, the client synchronization service 156 illustrated inFIG. 1 may communicate with the server synchronization service 112 tosynchronize the at least one object on the external directory to thecontent management system without first storing the at least one objecton an internal hard drive of the client device. In one example, thecontent management system is configured to bi-directionally synchronizecontents of the synchronized directory, but the synchronizing of theexternal directory is a uni-directional synchronization such thatchanges made to objects in the external directory are synchronized tothe content management system, but changes made to the objects that arerepresented on cloud storage of the content management system are notsynchronized back to the external directory.

In some embodiments of operation 322, a client application may triggerthe synchronization after expiration of a period of time as opposed tobase on a file event detected in the external directory becausedetection of file events on some external directories can be unreliable.For example, the client synchronization service 156 illustrated in FIG.1 may trigger the synchronization after expiration of a period of time.While it may be unreliable in some situations, it is also possible totrigger the synchronization after a file event is detected in theexternal directory. For example, the client synchronization service 156illustrated in FIG. 1 may trigger the synchronization after a file eventis detected in the external directory. Further, the synchronization canbe triggered upon a receipt of user input requesting thesynchronization. For example, the client synchronization service 156illustrated in FIG. 1 may trigger the synchronization upon a receipt ofuser input requesting the synchronization.

As explained with respect to FIG. 1, synchronization of an object caninclude breaking the object into blocks, and prior to sending the blocksto content management system 110, the blocks can be inserted into a hashfunction to obtain a block identifier. The block identifier can be usedto determine if the content management system 110 already has storedthis block. When content management system does not already havepossession over a block, the block is sent to the content managementsystem for storage. In one example of operation 322, the synchronizationfurther includes sending the hashed blocks that are temporarily storedin memory to the content management system 110.

At operation 324, the client application 152 may provide a userinterface effective to receive user inputs to select objects within theexternal directory to be excluded from synchronization.

In some embodiments, operation 324 can be performed before orconcurrently with operation 322.

At operation 326, the client device 150 may store the selected object tobe excluded from synchronization in a hidden object.

At operation 328, the client application 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 mayexclude the selected object from synchronization by the clientsynchronization service 156 of the client application 152 when theselected object is referenced in the hidden object.

In some embodiments, instead of performing operations 324, 326, and 328,the client application 152 may provide a user interface effective toreceive user inputs to select objects within the external directory tobe synchronized. For example, the user can select a set of sub-foldersfrom an external drive to be synchronized instead of all the foldersfrom the external drive. For another example, the user can select a setof sub-folders to be synchronized from other drives or volumesassociated with the client device 150.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example method 350 for access an externallocation of a client device through a selection of an anchor object.Although the example method 350 depicts a particular sequence ofoperations, the sequence may be altered without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. For example, some of the operations depictedmay be performed in parallel or in a different sequence that does notmaterially affect the function of the method 350. In other examples,different components of an example device or system that implements themethod 350 may perform functions at substantially the same time or in aspecific sequence.

At operation 330, the client application 152 may receive a selection ofthe stored link representing the external directory through a userinterface.

At operation 332, the client application 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 maydetermine whether the external directory is accessible.

If at operation 332, the client application 152 determines that theexternal directory is accessible, the process may continue withoperation 334.

At operation 334, the client device 150 may provide access to theexternal directory.

If at operation 332, the client application 152 determines that theexternal directory is not accessible, the process may continue withoperation 336.

At operation 336, a client application of a content management systemmay provide access to the synchronized contents of the externaldirectory in a web interface of the content management system at step334. For example, the client application 152 illustrated in FIG. 1 mayprovide access to the synchronized contents of the external directory ina web interface of the content management system when the externaldirectory is not accessible. In this example, the client application 152is providing access to the synchronized content of the externaldirectory that is stored on the content management system 110 instead ofthe content stored on the external directory.

In some embodiments, the special attributes of the anchor object such asthe Xattr can enable the content management system to intercept certainuser operations on the anchor object, such as the selection at operation330, and perform a predetermined action in response. For example, when auser double clicks on an anchor with Xattr including the QUID of anexternal drive, if the external drive is accessible, the clientapplication 152 can present the content of the external drive through auser interface at operation 334. If the external drive in the Xattr isnot accessible, the client application 152 can present the correspondingsynchronized content of the external drive stored on the contentmanagement system at operation 336.

In some embodiments, a server synchronization service of a contentmanagement system may convert the synchronized copy of the externaldirectory into a link container. For example, when the synchronizationof the external directory fails, the server synchronization service 112can convert the synchronized copy of the external directory that isstored on the content management system 110 into a link container. Whensuch conversion happens, the node representing the external directory onthe local tree will be set to an ignored state, which will lead thecontent management system 110 and the client application 152 to ignoreany further changes on such node. The node representing the externaldirectory on the remote tree will be set to a hidden state, which willhide such node on the remote tree so that the synchronized copy of theexternal directory will not be shown on the user interface of thecontent management system 110. Other example situations that mighttrigger this converting process include, but are not limited to readingthe content of the external directory takes too long, system failure onthe client device 150, the synchronized copy of the external directoryon the content management system 110 is deleted, or the externaldirectory becomes not accessible to the client device 150 duringsynchronization.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method 400 for generating an anchorobject. Although the example method 400 depicts a particular sequence ofoperations, the sequence may be altered without departing from the scopeof the present disclosure. For example, some of the operations depictedmay be performed in parallel or in a different sequence that does notmaterially affect the function of the method 400. In other examples,different components of an example device or system that implements themethod 400 may perform functions at substantially the same time or in aspecific sequence.

At operation 410, the client application 152 may generate an anchorobject for an external directory. As described above with regard toFIGS. 1 and 3A, the anchor object is an object with special attributes,a client application can recognize the anchor object as an objectpointing to an external directory that is external to a directory thatcontains the anchor object. In this example, the client applicationtreats the external directory as if the external directory were locatedwithin the directory that contains the anchor. The special attributesare extended attributes or ultimate data streams that describeattributes of the directory. The attributes of the directory include,but are not limited to a directory ID, an inode reference, a device ID,an object ID, a UUID, a target location, a path, etc.

In some embodiments, the directory that stores the anchor is a directorythat is monitored by the client synchronization service 156 and itscontents are synchronized to a content management system.

At operation 420, the client synchronization service 156 may recognizethe anchor object. In this example, the anchor object is recognized bythe presence of the special attributes.

At operation 430, the client synchronization service 156 may read thespecial attributes of the anchor object. In this example, the clientsynchronization service 156 may read metadata pertaining to the contentsof the external directory and may process each object in the externaldirectory to convert the content of each object into hashed blocks.

At operation 440, a synchronization service 156 of the clientapplication may determine information of the external folder using thespecial attributes of the anchor object. For example, the clientsynchronization service 156 may determine the content, locationinformation, or other information of the external folder associated withthe external directory, using the special attributes of the anchorobject.

At operation 450, the client synchronization service 156 may create anin-memory map for the external directory based on the special attributesto convert between a device UUID of the external directory to a contentmanagement system path in the local tree. The special attributes serveas a source of truth for the identification and location of the externalobject.

At operation 460, the client synchronization service 156 may read thecontents of the external directory.

At operation 460, the client synchronization service 156 may synchronizeat least one object on the external directory to a content managementsystem. In this example, the user can have options as to which objectsshould be synchronized and which objects should not be synchronized. Insome embodiments, the synchronization of operation 460 isuni-directional from the external directory to the content managementsystem 110. In some embodiments, the synchronization operation isbi-direction between the external directory and the content managementsystem 110.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 for handling and synchronizingan external directory by a content management system server. Althoughthe example method 500 depicts a particular sequence of operations, thesequence may be altered without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, some of the operations depicted may beperformed in parallel or in a different sequence that does notmaterially affect the function of the method 500. In other examples,different components of an example device or system that implements themethod 500 may perform functions at substantially the same time or in aspecific sequence.

At operation 505, the server synchronization service 112 may receive asynchronization of an anchor object by a content management system froma first client device. In one example, as described above with regard toFIGS. 1, 3A, and 4, the anchor object is an object with specialattributes, the anchor object is recognized by the content managementsystem as an object that points to an external directory reachable bythe first client device. In this example, the external directory isexternal to a directory on the first client device that contains theanchor object.

At operation 510, the web interface service 124 illustrated in FIG. 1may represent the anchor object as a folder within the directory thatcontains the anchor object. For example, child objects of the anchorobject are also represented as being in a path consisting of thedirectory that contains the anchor object. The anchor object and thechild objects are browseable and viewable on the web server of thecontent management system. In another example, the anchor object and thechild objects are browseable and viewable on the file browser of aclient device, such as a smartphone or a personal computer.

In some embodiments, the anchor object and its child objects areconfigured for uni-directional synchronization, whereas, the contentmanagement system supports bi-directional synchronization of objects bydefault. However, a person of ordinary skill in the art would alsoappreciate that the anchor object and its child objects can beconfigured for bi-directional synchronization too.

At operation 515, the web interface service 124 illustrated in FIG. 1may receive a selection of a child object in the path of the anchorobject via the web server of the content management system.

At operation 525, the web interface service 124 may receive an edit ofthe child object via the web server of the content management system. Insome embodiments, such an edit of the child object can be made on aclient application of a second client device.

At operation 530, the server synchronization service 112 illustrated inFIG. 1 may determine that the child object is configured foruni-directional synchronization. For example, the server synchronizationservice 112 may determine that the child object is configured foruni-directional synchronization by determining that the child object isin a path having the anchor object as an ancestor in the object path. Inanother example, the server synchronization service 112 may determinethat the child object is configured for uni-directional synchronizationby determining that the child object is associated with a specialattribute indicating that the object is configured for uni-directionalsynchronization.

At operation 535, the web interface service 124 may provide a warningthat the child object is configured for uni-directional synchronization.

At operation 540, the web interface service 124 may receive an inputfrom a user confirming that the user would like to synchronize the edit.

At operation 545, the server synchronization service 112 illustrated inFIG. 1 may create a copy of the child object containing the edit. Inthis example, the copy of the child object can be first stored on thecontent management system 110 under a directory associated with theclient device 150 other than the external directory, e.g., a useraccount directory, or other directory.

At operation 550, the server synchronization service 112 may synchronizethe copy of the child object into a directory that supportsbi-directional synchronization. In this example, the serversynchronization service 112 may not synchronize the copy into theexternal directory.

At operation 550, the server synchronization service 112 may synchronizethe anchor object to a second client device. In one example, the anchorobject is represented as a link placeholder on a file system of thesecond client device. In a second example, upon being selected at thesecond client device, the link placeholder is configured to cause thesecond client device to direct a web browser to the webserver of thecontent management system.

In some embodiments, because the child object is configured foruni-directional synchronization, the edit will not be synchronized backto the original copy of the child object. For example, if the childobject is a child object of an external drive that is represented by theanchor object, the edit of the child object received from the contentmanagement system will not be synchronized back to the original copy ofthe child object that is stored on the external drive. Instead, examplemethod 500 helps to preserve the edit in the content management systemby creating and storing another copy of the child object with the edit.

FIG. 6A shows an example graphical user interface in accordance withsome embodiments. Graphical user interface includes window 602, a localsync folder 610, and a web interface 620. The window 602 is displayed inresponse to an external drive being connected to the client device 150.Window 602 includes selectable interface elements 604 and 606. The localsync folder 610 is a directory on client device 150 that is monitored byclient application 152 associated with content management system 110.The contents of local sync folder 610 can be synchronized with thecontent management system 110. In this example, the local sync folder610 is empty.

The web interface 620 presents a web view of content management system110. In this example, the web interface 620 includes a file selectioninterface 622 that shows the files stored on the content managementsystem 110.

As described with regard to FIG. 3A, client application 152 of thecontent management system 110 may present the external drive as aselectable interface element 604 representing the external drive. Theclient application 152 may receive a selection of the selectableinterface element 604 from a user. The client application 152 may alsopresent an option (selectable interface element 606) to enroll theexternal drive for synchronization with the content management system110.

FIG. 6B shows another example graphical user interface in accordancewith some embodiments. As described with regard to FIG. 3A, once a userselected both the selectable interface elements 604 and 606, the clientsynchronization service 156 may begin communicating with the serversynchronization service 112 to synchronize the contents on the externaldirectory to the content management system 110 without first storing thecontents on an internal hard drive of the client device 150. The detailsof the synchronization are described in FIG. 3A.

After the synchronization is completed, interface elements will show upin the graphical user interface illustrated in FIG. 6B. For example,interface element 632 will show up in the local sync folder 610, andinterface element 634 shows up in the file selection interface 622 ofthe web interface 620. Interface elements 630, 632, and 634 allrepresent the external drive in these different locations. In thisexample, interface element 632 is an anchor object as described withregard to FIG. 2. A user can access the external drive by selecting anyone of the interface elements 630, 632, and 634. This user interfacedesign provides a consistent user experience when interacting with theexternal drive, even though the contents of the external drive are notstored on the internal hard drive of the client device 150.

FIG. 6C shows another example graphical user interface in accordancewith some embodiments. The graphical user interface includes a window640. The window 640 includes interface element 642. In this example, auser can select the interface element 642 and then select any localfolders, such as local folder 644, to be backed up to the contentmanagement system 110. To receive selection of the local folders, theclient application 152 may present another window including all thelocal folders after the user selects the interface element 642.

FIG. 6D shows another example graphical user interface in accordancewith some embodiments. After a selection of a local folder such as thelocal folder 644 is received, the client synchronization service 156 maybegin communicating with the server synchronization service 112 tosynchronize the contents on the selected local folder to the contentmanagement system 110. The detail of the synchronization is described indetail with regard to FIG. 3A.

After the synchronization is completed, interface element 646representing the local folder 644 shows up in the local sync folder 610.Also, interface element 648 shows up in the file selection interface 622of the web interface 620. A user can access the contents of the localfolder 644 by selecting any one of the interface elements 644, 646, and648.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computer system 700 for implementing apart of the instant disclosure. For example, the example computer system700 may execute a client application for performing the instantdisclosure.

The example computer system 700 includes a processor 705, a memory 710,a graphical device 715, a network device 720, interface 725, and astorage device 730 that are connected to operate via a bus 735. Theprocessor 705 reads machine instructions (e.g., reduced instruction set(RISC), complex instruction set (CISC), etc.) that are loaded into thememory 710 via a bootstrapping process and executes an operating system(OS) for executing application within frameworks provided by the OS. Forexample, the processor 705 may execute an application that executes anapplication provided by a graphical framework such as Winforms, WindowsPresentation Foundation (WPF), Windows User Interface (WinUI), or across-platform user interface such as Xamarin or QT. In other examples,the processor 705 may execute an application that is written for asandbox environment such as a web browser.

The processor 705 controls the memory 710 to store instructions, userdata, OS content, and other content that cannot be stored within theprocessor 705 internally (e.g., within the various caches). Theprocessor 705 may also control a graphical device 715 (e.g., a graphicalprocessor) that outputs graphical content to a display 740. In someexamples, the graphical device 715 may be integral within the processor705. In yet another example, the display 740 may be integral with thecomputer system 700 (e.g., a laptop, a tablet, a phone, etc.).

The graphical device 715 may be optimized to perform floating-pointoperations such as graphical computations, and may be configured toexecute other operations in place of the processor 705. For example,controlled by instructions to perform mathematical operations optimizedfor floating point math. For example, the processor 705 may allocateinstructions to the graphical device 715 for operations that areoptimized for the graphical device 715. For instance, the graphicaldevice 715 may execute operations related to artificial intelligence(AI), natural language processing (NLP), vector math. The results may bereturned to the processor 705. In another example, the applicationexecuting in the processor 705 may provide instructions to cause theprocessor 705 to request the graphical device 715 to perform theoperations. In other examples, the graphical device 715 may return theprocessing results to another computer system (i.e., distributedcomputing).

The processor 705 may also control a network device 720 for transmitsand receives data using a plurality of wireless channels 745 and atleast one communication standard (e.g., Wi-Fi (i.e., 802.11ax, 802.11e,etc.), Bluetooth®, various standards provided by the 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G), or a satellite communicationnetwork (e.g., Starlink). The network device 720 may wirelessly connectto a network 750 to connect to servers 755 or other service provider.The network device 720 may also be connected to the network 750 via aphysical (i.e., circuit) connection. The network device 720 may alsodirectly connect to local electronic device 760 using a point-to-point(P2P) or a short-range radio connection.

The processor 705 may also control an interface 725 that connects withan external device 770 for bidirectional or unidirectionalcommunication. The interface 725 is any suitable interface that forms acircuit connection and can be implemented by any suitable interface(e.g., universal serial bus (USB), Thunderbolt, and so forth). Theexternal device 765 is able to receive data from the interface 725 toprocess the data or perform functions for different applicationsexecuting in the processor 705. For example, the external device 765 maybe another display device, a musical instrument, a computer interfacedevice (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, etc.), an audio device (e.g., ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)),a storage device for storing content, an authentication device, anexternal network interface (e.g., a 5G hotspot), a printer, and soforth.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: detecting, by a clientapplication of a content management system executing on a client device,an external directory that is external to a synchronized directory;storing a link representing the external directory in the synchronizeddirectory on the client device; and synchronizing at least one object onthe external directory to the content management system without firststoring the at least one object on an internal hard drive of the clientdevice, wherein the content management system is configured tobi-directionally synchronize contents of the synchronized directory,wherein the synchronizing of the external directory is a uni-directionalsynchronization such that changes made to objects in the externaldirectory are synchronized to the content management system, and changesmade to the objects that are represented on a cloud storage of thecontent management system are not synchronized back to the externaldirectory.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: representing theexternal directory in a graphical user interface; receiving a selectionof the representation of the external directory; and in response toreceiving the selection of the representation of the external directory,presenting an option to enroll the external directory forsynchronization by the client application.
 3. The method of claim 2,comprising: determining whether the external directory is accessible bythe client device; when the external directory is not accessible by theclient device, presenting the at least one object in a web view of thecontent management system; and when the external directory is accessibleby the client device, presenting a view in a file browser window on theclient device of the contents of the external directory.
 4. The methodof claim 2, wherein the representation of the external directory in thegraphical user interface is an icon, representing the external directoryin a list of folders or external drives accessible on the client device.5. The method of claim 1, comprising: prior to the storing the link tothe external directory, creating the link to the external directory;wherein the link to the external directory includes special attributesthat identify the link as pointing to an external directory to besynchronized.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising: determining that theexternal directory is a valid location; wherein the determining that theexternal directory is a valid location includes determining that theexternal directory exists and is accessible; or wherein the determiningthat the external directory is a valid location includes determiningthat the external directory is in a supported format, wherein thesupported format is a disk format that can be read by the clientapplication, wherein the supported format is a disk format that supportsextended attributes.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the externaldirectory is an external hard drive connected to the client device, anetwork drive accessible by the client device, or a camera connected tothe client device.
 8. The method of claim 1 comprising: providing a userinterface effective to receive user inputs to select objects within theexternal directory to be excluded from synchronization; storing aselected object to be excluded from synchronization in a hidden object;and excluding the selected object from synchronization by asynchronization service of the client application when the selectedobject is referenced in the hidden object.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: storing a copy of the changes made to the objectsrepresented on the cloud storage of the content management system to thesynchronized directory.
 10. A system comprising: a storage configured tostore instructions; and a processor configured to execute theinstructions and cause the processor to: detect, by a client applicationof a content management system executing on a client device, an externaldirectory that is external to a synchronized directory, store a linkrepresenting the external directory in the synchronized directory on theclient device, and synchronize at least one object on the externaldirectory to the content management system without first storing the atleast one object on an internal hard drive of the client device, whereinthe content management system is configured to bi-directionallysynchronize contents of the synchronized directory, wherein thesynchronizing of the external directory is a uni-directionalsynchronization such that changes made to objects in the externaldirectory are synchronized to the content management system, and changesmade to the objects that are represented on a cloud storage of thecontent management system are not synchronized back to the externaldirectory.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute the instructions and cause the processor to:represent the external directory in a graphical user interface; receivea selection of the representation of the external directory; and inresponse to receiving the selection of the representation of theexternal directory, present an option to enroll the external directoryfor synchronization by the client application.
 12. The system of claim11, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions andcause the processor to: determine whether the external directory isaccessible by the client device; when the external directory is notaccessible by the client device, presenting the at least one object in aweb view of the content management system; and when the externaldirectory is accessible by the client device, presenting a view in afile browser window on the client device of the contents of the externaldirectory.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute the instructions and cause the processor to: priorto the storing the link to the external directory, create the link tothe external directory; and the link to the external directory includesspecial attributes that identify the link as pointing to an externaldirectory to be synchronized.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein theprocessor is configured to execute the instructions and cause theprocessor to: determine that the external directory is a valid location;wherein the determination that the external directory is a validlocation includes determining that the external directory exists and isaccessible; and wherein the determination that the external directory isa valid location includes determining that the external directory is ina supported format, the supported format is a disk format that can beread by the client application, and the supported format is a diskformat that supports extended attributes.
 15. The system of claim 10,wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions andcause the processor to: provide a user interface effective to receiveuser inputs to select objects within the external directory to beexcluded from synchronization; store a selected object to be excludedfrom synchronization in a hidden object; and exclude the selected objectfrom synchronization by a synchronization service of the clientapplication when the selected object is referenced in the hidden object.16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions,the instructions, when executed by a computing system, cause thecomputing system to: detect, by a client application of a contentmanagement system executing on a client device, an external directorythat is external to a synchronized directory; store a link representingthe external directory in the synchronized directory on the clientdevice; and synchronize at least one object on the external directory tothe content management system without first storing the at least oneobject on an internal hard drive of the client device, wherein thecontent management system is configured to bi-directionally synchronizecontents of the synchronized directory, wherein the synchronizing of theexternal directory is a uni-directional synchronization such thatchanges made to objects in the external directory are synchronized tothe content management system, and changes made to the objects that arerepresented on a cloud storage of the content management system are notsynchronized back to the external directory.
 17. The computer readablemedium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable medium furthercomprises instructions that, when executed by the computing system,cause the computing system to: represent the external directory in agraphical user interface; receive a selection of the representation ofthe external directory; and in response to receiving the selection ofthe representation of the external directory, present an option toenroll the external directory for synchronization by the clientapplication.
 18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein thecomputer readable medium further comprises instructions that, whenexecuted by the computing system, cause the computing system to:determine whether the external directory is accessible by the clientdevice; when the external directory is not accessible by the clientdevice, presenting the at least one object in a web view of the contentmanagement system; and when the external directory is accessible by theclient device, presenting a view in a file browser window on the clientdevice of the contents of the external directory.
 19. The computerreadable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable mediumfurther comprises instructions that, when executed by the computingsystem, cause the computing system to: prior to the storing the link tothe external directory, create the link to the external directory; andwherein the link to the external directory includes special attributesthat identify the link as pointing to an external directory to besynchronized.
 20. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein thecomputer readable medium further comprises instructions that, whenexecuted by the computing system, cause the computing system to:determine that the external directory is a valid location; wherein thedetermination that the external directory is a valid location includesdetermining that the external directory exists and is accessible; andwherein the determination that the external directory is a validlocation includes determining that the external directory is in asupported format, the supported format is a disk format that can be readby the client application, and the supported format is a disk formatthat supports extended attributes.